A trading card is one of a set of cards which relate to a given theme or subject, such as a sport, and which are usually acquired and exchanged by players or collectors, such as schoolchildren or enthusiasts, as a pastime.
Trading cards can include numerical data relating to the subject of the trading card. Thus, cards can be played against each other in a game by comparing corresponding values of a chosen characteristic on each card and determining which card wins according to a predetermined rule, such as the card having the highest value of the characteristic wins. The winner usually takes the loser's card.
It is known to store data in memory on smart cards and so-called “chip-and-pin” debit and credit cards. However, using such smart cards as trading cards or embedding memory into a trading card is prohibitively expensive. Furthermore, embedding memory into existing types of trading card would require significant changes in manufacturing, which is undesirable. Moreover, smart cards are read using devices which are themselves complex and expensive. Examples of trading cards in the form of a smart card are described in WO-A-0148580 and CA-A-2357934.
An alternative to storing data in embedded memory is to use a barcode, for example, as described in WO-A-2003018156. Although a barcode can be easily printed onto a card, it still requires a complex and expensive reading device.
WO-A-199535216 describes a lottery ticket bearing a printed circuit. The circuit is printed over symbols and under a scratch-off coating so that a printed circuit and a scratch-off coating are removed when the ticket is played. An electronic verification machine is used to determine which areas of the scratch-off coatings have been removed. Evidently, any tampering or alteration of the lottery ticket will cause a detectable change in a characteristic of the circuit. However, the printed circuit serves as a security device and is not used for storing data.
The present invention seeks to provide a trading card.